"The women of Bikini Kill let guitarist Billy Karren be in their feminist punk band, but only if he's willing to just "do some shit." Being a feminist dude is like that. We may ask you to "do some shit" for the band, but you don't get to be Kathleen Hannah."--@heatherurehere

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Linky Goodness: Biology vs. Choice

In lieu of actual posting, I have a recommended read. Elizabeth over at Sex in the Public Square has a great post about why whether or not various aspects of human sexuality are 'biological' or 'chosen' doesn't have any part to play in the rights of people to have the kind of sex they want. Even if some part of one's sexuality is 'freely chosen', why can't it also be a right? After all, religions are freely chosen (sometimes!), and we seem to think people have a right to their religion. Framing the debate about sexual rights as biology versus choice leads down the wrong road:

I sort of feel this way about various kinds of gender essentialisms. Even if it were the case that 'most women are like x' and 'most men are like z', I always want to ask: What about those that don't fall within those norms? Shouldn't they be able to freely be themselves, anyway?